Keep Holding On
by kitykat17
Summary: sequel to 'If only'. so if you havent read it, you should! this takes place a few days after the eventful and deadly night in the hospital.
1. Chapter 1

This will be the epilogue to my first story, If Only. So if you haven't read it, you'll have no idea what this is about! To all of you who I hope will come back, I thank you and hope you like this story about the aftermath of the day no one in the hospital will ever forget. This story will start just a few days after the shootings, the day of the funeral.

Keep Holding On part one

He didn't understand why any of this was happening, or how it even started. For what seemed like the millionth time he was there again, face to face with his best friend, hearing the last words she said over and over: _just close your eyes_.

Why had he? He could have saved her if he hadn't. He could have done something, _anything_, but instead he just sat there and let it happen.

_What could you have done?_ A fair voice said in his head. _He would have done the same to you as he did to her. And all this happened in just seconds, remember? You could hardly register what was happening._

In his head a stronger voice said _just close your eyes_. So he did. And then it had started, and when he finally opened his eyes he realized what he had to live with.

Just close your- 

"George!"

He woke with a start. Callie was up and moving around the room. She had laid his things out for him.

"We're going to be late if you don't get up."

With dread dawning on him he remembered what day it was. He reluctantly sat up and looked at the clock. He sighed and got out of bed.

Callie looked at him but didn't say anything. She had kept her mouth shut often the last couple days, though she was bursting with things to say. She found out it was better to just keep her mouth shut, because George wanted to talk about anything but what had happened, and tried his best to act like everything was just fine. She supposed she would just have to wait until he was ready.

She hesitated, then said, "Are you ready for this?"

He looked at her. "Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

She said nothing.

"So you're okay?" Derek asked Meredith as she frantically ran around the house.

"I'm fine," she said firmly, and finally stopped so he didn't have to chase her anymore. "You go and do what you have to. Cristina and everyone will be there. I'll be just _fine_."

"Okay," he said. "I'll be back later, alright? And you can call me if you have to."

"Okay," she said exasperatedly. "Now go ahead. Get outta here."

He sighed and did what she said. He gave her a kiss then went down the stairs. She heard the door close.

She sighed and sat down on the bed. She suddenly felt extremely lonely. It had been so weird without Izzie here with her, and it still seemed that she was merely on a vacation and would be back soon.

"But she's not," Meredith told herself out loud. "You have to get that in your head."

She felt embarrassed at this, but really didn't care. After all, she was alone.

"Cristina-"

"I'm going now," she told him, throwing on her coat. "I'll see you at the hospital later."

"Cristina listen to me," Burke said, grabbing her arm. She sighed impatiently and looked at him.

"You're not as okay as you think."

She pulled away from him. "I'm going to Meredith's now," she said, ignoring what he said. "Goodbye."

She left before he could say anything else.

George looked in the mirror. He was starting to get extremely afraid. He didn't think he could do it. It was too much. Hadn't he suffered enough? Why couldn't he just go back to his life? Why did this keep on coming to haunt him?

"Are you ready to go?" Callie asked.

"Yeah," he said, turning away from the mirror. She was worried about him. He hadn't shown any sighs of emotion since the night Izzie died, even now as he was going to her funeral. He walked past her and led the way out.

Cristina and Meredith sat next to each other as they silently drove down the road. Neither of them had any idea what to expect when they got there, and neither of them liked thinking about it.

"I really don't want to go to this," Meredith said.

"Me neither," Cristina agreed.

The rest of the ride was silent.

"You didn't go?" Burke asked Shepard in the hospital.

"No," he said. "Too much going on." He gestured at the board.

Burke nodded. "Too much."

George and Callie arrived first. They sat in the car.

"Ready?" Callie asked.

"Yeah."

They got out of the car.


	2. Chapter 2

I'd like to thank everyone for reading and reviewing! I'm really hoping this turns out well, so make sure you tell me what you think (if you want). This scene will be of the actual funeral, and it was another hard part to write, so I hope you enjoy it.

Keep Holding On part 2

They stood in an awkward silence for a few moments. Someone came up from behind them, making George jump.

"You just gonna stand here?"

"Dr. Bailey," George said, for some reason feeling on the spot.

She looked him up and down. Callie said nothing. Bailey didn't seem to know what to say either. George had seemed to be completely fine all week, as well as Cristina. Alex had just seemed angry and Meredith rather quiet.

"So are you gonna go in?" Bailey asked.

George stared at her, like he wondered why she would ask such a thing. "Um- no, I- I'm just gonna wait for Meredith."

"Okay," Bailey said, and turned and walked away.

Callie looked sideways at him. She opened her mouth to say something, but the arrival of Meredith and Cristina cut her off.

"I'm gonna go in," she told George.

"Okay," he said absently. She hesitated, thought better of it, and turned away.

Meredith and Cristina got out of the car. George walked over to them.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," they said back. There was an awkward silence. They just stood there, as if waiting for something to happen.

"I'm worried about George," Callie said to Bailey. " He hasn't opened up at all. He hasn't even said anything about it. He dreams about it, every night, but acts like it never happened."

"He'll open up," Bailey said. "Once he accepts it."

Callie sighed. She felt very out of place around the others, since she'd never been close to Izzie. Quite the opposite, actually. Bailey looked out at the three interns standing there silently. It made her feel so empty inside. She wished that she could help them. She wished she could have helped Izzie.

"Dr. Bailey?" Callie said. "Should we go-?"

"Hold on a minute," she said, and went back outside. Callie sighed impatiently and went to find a place to sit.

Alex joined the group. "So…what are we doing?"

"Standing," Meredith said. "Putting it off as long as we can."

"Okay," he said.

Bailey came back out. She walked up to her interns. They looked at her but said nothing.

"You're just gonna stand out here all day?" she said, looking into each of their faces.

"No," George said.

"We're just waiting," Meredith said.

"For what? For it to go away? Forget it ever happened? Well it did, and it isn't gonna go away. Putting it off isn't gonna make it any better. You have to pull yourselves together, and walk in that room, and accept this has happened so you can move on."

They stared at her. She stared back. There was hesitation, then Alex walked past her. Meredith followed him. Cristina and George looked at each other.

"Well?" Bailey said.

They reluctantly followed the others. Bailey took a deep breath and followed them in.

"Hey," Addison said to Derek in the hospital.

"Hey," he said.

"Going into surgery?" she asked.

"Yeah, in a bit."

"So…how's Meredith?" she asked awkwardly.

"I don't know," Derek said distractedly. "She's been really quiet, and I know she's not to happy living at the house right now. She feels lonely or something."

"Yeah," she said. "Since she lived and all. What is she doing with her stuff?"

"I don't know, and neither is she. She's been…." He broke off.

"Alright," Addison said. "I'll just go now."

"Right," Derek said.

"Chief!"

Burke came up to him.

"Hello," the Chief said. "Quiet here today."

"Yeah," Burke said.

"At least everything's winding down now," Chief said. He looked sideways at him.

"Is Dr. Yang coming in today?"

"She said she is," Burke said. "I'm hoping today will help her. She needs to open up."

"Hey."

Callie looked up. George sat down next to her.

"Hey," she said. "I was wondering if you were coming in or not."

"I'm here," he said. "And everything fine."

Meredith sat down next to him. Cristina sat next to her, and Alex next to her. Bailey sat on Callie's other side. Callie looked on both sides of her.

More people arrived, people they didn't know. Some just looked at them, others paid no attention, and a women passed with another, and they heard her whisper, "Those are the ones from the hospital, they…." Izzie's mother was the only one that greeted them, and told Bailey thank you for calling her that night. Then she walked to the front of the room and didn't speak to them again.

So it started. The man upfront was speaking, but they only half paid attention to him. Cristina stared at the floor. Alex was staring ahead but seemed lost in his own world. Meredith was crying silently. Callie took George's hand, and he actually let her. Bailey had her eyes closed, apparently making sure she held herself together. George gripped Callie's hand harder. She looked at him. He looked as if he were finally about to burst.

Bailey finally broke. The tears came to her. She now had four interns. They were like her children, each one of them. She wished she could have done something that day.. She wished she could just take it back and start over. Save all of them from this.

Meredith finally realized that Izzie _wasn't _on vacation. She was gone, she wasn't coming home. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't imagine the emptiness she'd have to endure everyday, the loneliness she'd feel as she passed Izzie's room and no smiling giddy Izzie came out of it.

Cristina felt rather awkward. She hated funerals. She hated all of this. She and Izzie hadn't been the best of friends, but they still were friends. She felt horrible. It was definitely going to be different for now on.

Alex just stared out in space. He couldn't imagine life without Izzie. He loved her. With all his heart. He felt a sudden burning in his eyes and throat. He looked at the floor.

George didn't see anything or hear the man talking up front. He could only hear himself say _Izzie you can't do this _and her responding by saying _just close your eyes._

The last thing she said.

He suddenly stood up. Everyone looked at him.

"George," Callie said.

"Just- don't," he said, and walked out.

Cristina walked up to Burke. He looked at her. They looked at each other for several seconds, then she put her arms around him.

Burke was surprised at first, then said, 'Ssshh, it's okay. It's okay."

"Meredith?" 

Derek came up to her.

"Hi," she said.

"You alright?" he asked, putting his hand on her face.

Meredith looked up at him.

"Izzie's gone."

"Yeah," he said, doing the same as Burke did and held her tight.

"George," Callie said desperately, "can you let me in?"

"No," he said through the closed door.

She sighed and put her head on it.

"I'm here when you need me."

"I know."

She waited for a moment, then walked away.

George sat alone in the dark on call room. He felt as though he could stay in there forever. He could just picture Izzie coming to the door and telling him to come out, we can talk about this.

But no. she wasn't going to.

No matter what they said, he knew it _was his _fault


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you like this story so far. I'm sorry if last chapter was confusing at all, and I'll try to be clearer for you. I don't plan on making this story too long, just long enough, so if you have any criticisms, please let me know!!!!

Keep Holding On part 3

Derek and Meredith stood next to each other, standing in the doorway of the now unoccupied room. Meredith had been standing there for some time now, not moving or saying a word.

"So," Derek said, "what are you going to do with it?"

"Well it's not mine," she said without looking at him. "It's not my decision. I think I'll just pack it up. Give it to her mom. Then she can deal with it."

"That sounds good," Derek said. "So…are you coming or not?"

"Oh- yeah," she said, finally looking away. She walked past him. He looked in the room one final time and closed the door.

"I'm sorry," George said to Callie as they left for the hospital.

"For what?" Callie said, knowing what he was going to say.

"The way I've been acting towards you. I know I haven't been very fair to you these past few days-"

"It's alright," Callie said at once. "I understand."

"I know you do," he said. "I'm trying."

The locker room was much more quiet than it usually was, even more than the past couple days, since Cristina and George had stopped pretending how they felt. Alex didn't even look at any of them; he came in and left as quickly as he could, never acknowledging they were there.

"He's still angry," Meredith said sadly.

"Yeah he is," Cristina agreed. "Wonder how long it's gonna take him."

"Hopefully not too long," Meredith said. "It's not good for him. He's gonna end up seriously flipping on someone."

George closed his locker. At that moment he wished that he had never came to this hospital. Then he wouldn't have to deal with all of this.

Dr. Bailey entered the room. She looked around at them all.

"Alright," she said. "I know it's been a long week, but he have to get back on this. So come on. Rounds."

They followed her out. It seemed so weird, now that there were only four of them. It threw off everything. This affected no one as much as it did to Bailey. They were _her_ five interns-Grey, Yang, O'Malley, Karev, and Stevens. They were her children. Now they were down to four. It just wasn't right.

"Derek proposed to me," Meredith said to Cristina as they walked together.

"When?" Cristina asked.

"The night Izzie died."

"Seriously?" Cristina said. "Not a very happy time or place to pop the question."

"I know," Meredith sighed. "I guess it's just that a lot happened that night. Emotions were high, everything was just- I don't know." 

Cristina gave her a sideways glance. "So what did you say?"

Meredith said nothing at first, as though she were ashamed. "I said yes."

"Of course," Cristina said.

"I know it was probably wrong, but let's face it! If I learned anything from this, it was that life is short. We take it for granted so much. And I love him."

"Yeah," Cristina said.

"Besides," Meredith said. "You can't say you didn't learn the same thing. You _are_ back with Burke, aren't you?"

Cristina looked at her. "Yes."

"That's good," Mer said.

"It is," Cristina admitted.

"Am I wrong?" Meredith asked. "Am I wrong for wanting to do this?"

"No," Cristina said. "You're not wrong."

"Sometimes I think I am," Meredith said.

They walked past George. Meredith paused, then called after him.

"Hey George!"

He turned around. She walked over to him. Cristina didn't follow her.

"Where you going?" Mer asked him.

"Back to the clinic," he said.

"Oh." She hesitated, then said, "I'm going to be cleaning Izzie's room out."

"Okay," he said, in a voice that clearly asked, so why are you telling me?

"It's just-" She paused again. "We'll have to clean out her locker too, and I figured it would be best to gather all her stuff at once, so…."

Her voice trailed off. He looked at her.

"I'll do it," he said.

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Well- okay," Meredith said awkwardly. "So just tell me when you do. Unless you want me to-"

"I can do it myself," he said. "It's fine."

"Alright," she said. "So- I'll see you later."

"Alright," he said, and walked away. Meredith went back after Cristina.

Callie noticed that Alex was still in a bad mood. He was her intern today, so she was slightly afraid he'd do or say something wrong to a patient, for he had very little patience. And her guesses turned out to be quite right. She ended up having to pull him out of a patient's room for telling her that with her case of osteosarcoma, she was basically going to die before she even reached her next birthday.

Addison watched as Callie pulled Alex out of the room. Both of them looked equally upset.

"You have no right to say that," Callie told him angrily.

"Why?" Alex said coldly. "It's the truth, isn't it?"

She sighed impatiently. "That woman is a thirty year old mother-"

"Who's going to die before her next birthday," Alex said, cutting her off.

"But you can't say that!" Callie said, frustrated. "She's scared-"

"And has every right to be," Alex said. "Look, I can't lie to her. I don't care how bad it sounds. It's the truth. If you don't like it then throw me off the case. I don't care."

Callie sighed. "Look," she said. "I know that you've been going through a hard time with what happened to Izzie-"

"Shut up!" he said nastily. "You have no idea what you're talking about. So just shut your mouth."

People stared at him. Callie looked at the floor. He left the scene quickly, looking livid. Addison got up and followed him.

She caught the closet door just as he went to shut it.

"Alex-"

"Get out of here."

He sat down at the floor. She debated leaving, then decided against it. She came into the small room and shut the door.

"I told you to get out."

"I don't care."

She sat down next to him. He said nothing for a moment.

"She can't say anything," he said. "She doesn't understand. She didn't even like her. But she walks around this place like she's so sad about it. And she yells at me for lying."

Addison thought for a moment. "You can't blame Callie," she said. "She's not the one you're angry at. You're angry at Izzie. At yourself."

He looked at her, then looked away.

"But it's not your fault," Addison continued. "You had nothing to do with any of it. And Izzie, well… she did all she could. She would never leave any of you behind if she could help it."

He said nothing. He was looking at the floor. She waited patiently. Finally he looked up and nodded.

"Okay?" Addison said with a small smile.

They just looked at each other. Then he leaned in and kissed her.

George entered the empty locker room. First he made sure he was alone, then went to Izzie's locker. He hesitated, then opened it.

First he smiled at the variety of food she had kept in there. Izzie sure did love her food. It took up most of the space in her locker. She had her medical supplies, and a shirt crammed in the back. He found a small book. He paused, then feeling guilty, opened it. There were only two things in the book; one was Denny's obituary she had cut out of the paper. The other thing was a young blonde girl that looked quite like her. He looked at the back of the picture. It said "Hannah, age six." He had no idea who Hannah was. Maybe a niece or something. He gathered everything out of the locker, looked at it one more time, and shut it.

As Cristina and Meredith walked out of the hospital together, Meredith grabbed Cristina's arm, stopping her. She looked around.

"What?"

"Will you do something with me?"

Cristina looked at her.

A half hour later they stood in front of Izzie's room.

"You ready?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah," said Cristina.

They entered the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone! I wanted to say this will be one of the last chapters, since I plan on ending it soon. I hope I've done well with it, so review and tell me what you think! Thanks everyone!

Keep Holding On part 4

"I didn't know she had treasure in here," Meredith said, going through Izzie's jewelry. "How dare she never let me borrow this."

"She's got nice dresses too," Cristina said from the closet. "This girl had more clothes than I ever did."

"Not what you'd expect from a trailer park girl."

"Maybe from a model."

"True." Meredith closed the jewelry box. "If only she was here. She'd kill us for this."

"Yeah," Cristina said, then an awkward silence fell upon them.

Callie entered the locker room. George turned around, startled. He hid Izzie's things behind his back, as though guilty of stealing.

"Oh, hey," he said, feeling relieved.

"Hey," she said back. "I had the most crazy day. Are you coming home now? I need someone to spill it to."

"Oh, I'm-" he paused, feeling bad. "I'd love to hear about it. But I have to go to Meredith's first."

"Why?" Callie asked.

"I had to-" he brought out the bag from behind his back. "I had to get Izzie's things from her locker. We're gathering all her things up now."

"Oh," Callie said shortly. "I see."

"But I won't be that long," George said at once. "I'm just going to drop these off and leave. Then you can tell me all about your day. I promise."

"Okay," Callie said dismissively.

"I'm sorry," George said.

"It's fine. Do what you have to do."

She left the room.

He sighed. He did feel bad, but he was only dropping the things off. No big deal. She had to understand that.

"Addison!"

She jumped and turned around. Callie came towards her.

"So what happened with Karev?" she asked. "I haven't seen him."

"Oh, yeah, me neither," Addison said, turning away so she didn't have to show her lying red face. "I looked for him, but- he must've left or something."

"I do feel bad," Callie sighed. "I wasn't trying to be insensitive or anything. The girl's been gone for days but she's definitely still here."

"Just give it some time," Addison said.

Callie looked around her. "Why are you so red?"

"I'm not," Addison said at once.

"You are," Callie said with a small grin. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No," Addison said firmly. "Now excuse me, I have to go."

She walked away quickly. Callie shook her head.

Meredith sat down on the bed. Cristina did too.

"We still have more," Cristina pointed out.

"I know," Meredith said.

Cristina looked around the room. "It's depressing."

"Yeah," Mer agreed.

George came in the doorway. They looked at him.

"I cleaned the locker out," he said, showing them the bag.

"Okay," Meredith said.

George hesitated, then joined them.

"Getting much done?"

"Loads," Cristina said. She looked at the bag. "Find anything interesting?"

"Not really," he said, opening it. He took out the small book. "Do you know if she ever said anything about a girl named Hannah?"

"Hannah? Not that I remember," Meredith said, taking the book. She looked at Denny's obituary for a moment, then took the picture of the little girl. She examined it. "She looks a lot like her. This picture seems to be a few years old though. Probably someone from her family."

"Yeah, that's what I figured," George said, taking it back. "Must have been important to her."

He put it back in the bag. He was hit with sudden flash backs of their time in that hospital room: Izzie coming to the door, him speaking out, Meurtrier throwing him in front of Izzie, telling her it was either her life of George's. George remembered looking into her eyes and knowing that she had no intention of letting Meurtrier hurt anybody but herself.

_Just close your eyes_.

"I didn't talk to her for weeks," George said suddenly. Meredith and Cristina looked at him. "How could I be so stupid?"

"You didn't know, George," Meredith said.

"That doesn't matter," he said, staring at the ceiling. "Those last weeks she had in her life I spent avoiding her, wishing that she'd just leave me alone. Now that's time that I won't get back."

"I know," Meredith sighed. She really didn't know what to say to him.

"People make mistakes George," Cristina said. "So your pride or whatever got in the way of your friendship. It was a mistake. One you can't fix. One _she_ can't fix. It happened. Now you just have to make sure it doesn't happen again. That's the most you can do."

George looked at her. She didn't look at him, as though she were embarrassed. He looked back at the ceiling.

Now Alex appeared in the doorway.

"I let myself in."

"Okay," Meredith said.

"So what's going on?"

"We're sitting on Izzie's bed talking about mistakes."

"Okay," he said, and squeezed on the bed with them.

"You don't seem as angry," Meredith said.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I had sometime to think. By the way," he said to George, "Your wife might hate me now."

"What did you do?" he asked, assuming that he had finally cracked on someone that just happened to be his wife.

"If she didn't tell you yet, she'll tell you soon."

Meredith smiled. George sighed.

There was silence for a long time. They all stared at the ceiling, waiting for something to happen so they didn't have to lay there forever.

"So what do we do now?" Cristina finally asked.

"I don't know yet," Meredith said.

"You could finish packing," George suggested.

"It just feels like we're- I don't know- trying to get rid of her or something," Meredith said.

"Um- she's not here, you have no way to get rid of her," Cristina said.

"You know what I mean," Meredith said.

"Well ya gotta do it sooner or later," Alex said. "Plus, I don't think you could ever get rid of Izzie."

They smiled, knowing it was true.

"This is a very small bed," Cristina announced, making the others laugh in agreement. They fell silent, feeling rather close to her as they were crammed on her bed, which just being on it felt kind of disturbing, knowing the girl that had lain there just days ago was now gone, yet at the same time felt peaceful, knowing they could still keep her close.

Quite suddenly, Meredith began to cry. They all looked at her.

"I'm fine," she said, wiping her eyes. "Just being stupid."

George took her hand on one side, and Cristina on the other.

And they laid there like that for the rest of the night.

It was dark. George couldn't see anything, but he could hear it. One gunshot, the one he couldn't forget. Meredith screaming. More gunshots, the ones that stopped Cane Meurtrier from killing the rest of them. Then the haunting silence.

Then he could see. Bailey's shocked face looking past him after she basically saved his life. Meredith sitting in the corner, hiding her face from what had just happened.

George turned around. There were many police in the doorway, but just how many George couldn't tell. Cane Meurtrier lay motionless on the ground, right where George had been before. And then Izzie. George had thought it was already too late. Bailey went past him to her. Meredith came out from hiding. She stared at the scene before her, too shocked to say anything.

"You can't just all stand there!" Bailey said impatiently. "Do you want this-"

George woke up with a start. At first he was confused as to where he was. Then he realized he was half off the side of Izzie's bed, Meredith having pushed him over. The rest of them were still there too, all asleep in the bed that Izzie had not long ago.

George thought about Callie. He jumped up. He left the rest of them lying on the bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you all for reading (as usual). This chapter isn't my favorite, especially since it's near the end, but I hope you enjoy it. Please tell me what you think!

Keep Holding On part 5

George caught Callie as she was going into the hospital.

"Callie! Hey."

She stopped and turned around.

"You didn't-"

"I know," George said quickly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean- I just lost track of time, and-"

"You said you were just dropping it off," Callie said looking at the floor.

"I- I know," he said apologetically. "I should have just gone and come home. I just started talking and- yeah."

She looked up at him.

"Why can't you talk to me?" she said. "Why can't you come home to _me_? I am your wife, George. I- I do everything I can to make you happy-"

"I know you do!" George said at once. "And I'm grateful. I love you."

"Yet you choose them over me every time," Callie said. "It's always going to be that way, isn't it? I'm not part of your little group, so I come second."

"Of course not!" he said desperately.

"You have a strange way of proving it."

She walked away. "Callie!" he called after her. "Callie don't do this!"

She didn't look back. He sighed. He knew he had screwed up. Everything she said was true, and he knew that he was wrong to treat her that way, but somehow it just kept happening, even when he didn't want it to. He entered the hospital.

"Thank God we're almost finished," Cristina said as they finished up with the packing. "I hate doing this kinda stuff."

"Next time don't come," Meredith said, double-checking the drawers.

"I swear-" Cristina stopped in mid-sentence. She sighed.

"What is it?" Meredith asked.

Cristina pulled out the last dress from the closet. It was one they were very familiar with.

"It is a beautiful dress," Meredith said fairly, taking it from Cristina. "Not tha tshe was ever gonna wear it again."

"Uh- neither would I," Cristina said. "She laid next to her dead fiancée in it."

Meredith studied it. "Do you think there together?"

"Don't ask me," Cristina said. "Now come on. Let's finish this already."

"Hey," Addison said to Callie. "What's up? You don't seem too happy."

"George never came home last night," Callie said. "He stayed at Meredith's, even though he said he'd only be there a couple minutes." She looked at her. "I'm a horrible person, right? For getting angry about these things. His best friend did die after all, and here I am…."

She trailed off. Addison sighed. "You're not a horrible person," she said. "You just miss him, that's all."

"I don't know what to do," Callie said. "I do everything I can…."

Addison suddenly no longer heard her. Alex came out of the elevator. He spotted her and grinned sheepishly.

"Uh- yeah," Addison said. "I-I have to go."

"Okay," Callie said slowly. "Thanks for listening so intently."

Addison walked away. Alex followed her. Callie watched them suspiciously.

"Hey!" Alex said. She stopped.

"What?" she said turning around.

"About yesterday," he said.

"There's nothing to say," she said firmly. "It was a mistake. It was nothing."

"Yeah," Alex agreed quickly. "Just what I was going to say."

"Okay," she said. "So-yeah. Nothing happened. The end."

"Right," Alex said. "So- I'll see you-whenever."

"Okay," Addison said, and they turned and walked away in different directions.

"Hey," Meredith said to Derek as she passed him in the hallway.

"Hey," he said back. "Are you done with the cleaning out now?"

"Yeah," she said. "We just finished."

"That's good," he said. "And you're okay?"

"I am fine," she said.

"Good," he smiled.

"I've been meaning to talk to you," Meredith said awkwardly. "About the whole- marriage thing,"

"Oh- yeah," he said, as though he had forgot, though she knew he didn't. "I'm sorry I just- it was wrong of me to put that on you. I understand if you've changed your mind. I know a lot has been going on and-it's okay."

She smiled. "I didn't change my mind."

He looked at her. "So you do want to go through with it?"

"I do," she said.

He smiled. "So. We're getting married."

"So we are."

They looked at each other and then laughed.

George was looking through some files, trying to find his patient's. He hadn't seen Callie at all yet since he arrived there. He hoped that they could talk it over again.

A couple approached him nervously from behind.

"Excuse me?" the woman said. George turned around. "You're a doctor?"

"Yes," he said. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, we're looking for someone," she said. "And we're quite sure she works here."

"What's their name?" George asked.

"Isobel Stevens," she said.

George stared at her.

"We finally finished all the packing," Cristina told Burke. "It took forever, but…."

"Is that where you were last night?" Burke asked.

"Yeah, sorry," she said. "We were all there, and…I don't know. Whatever."

"It's fine," he said.

"Did Shepard tell you about him and Meredith?" she asked.

"No," he said. "He asked her, didn't he?"

"Yeah," she said.

"He wanted to," he said. "But I didn't think he'd go through with it. At least not yet."

"Tell me about it," she said. "But whatever makes them happy."

Burke was silent for a moment. "Do you know what their doing yet?"

"No. They don't even know." She looked at them. "Why?"

"Just wondering," he said with a smile. He turned.

"Don't get any ideas!" she called after him.

"Stevens, you said?"

"Yes," the husband said. "We haven't seen her in a few years."

"Are you-friends?" George asked, his heart beating quickly.

"Not exactly," the woman said. "Our daughter, Hannah, has leukemia. And Isobel is her birth mother, so we were hoping that she'd be able to do a bone marrow transplant for her."

"Her- Hannah's her daughter?"

"Yes," the woman said. "It's really important we see her. She could be Hannah's only chance."

"Oh-um-" George had no idea what to say. He was still surprised at the girl in the photo's identity. "She- she can't," he said lamely.

"Why not?" the man asked.

"She-" George felt awkward. "I don't know what you've heard about the resent shootings?"

"I heard something about it," the man said thoughtfully. "We've been busy with Hannah. We don't always have time for current events."

"What does that have to do with anything?" the woman asked.

George just looked at them for a moment. "It happened here," he said. "The shootings. And Izzie…."

They waited for him to finish.

"Izzie was one of the victims," he said.

They stared at him.

"You mean she's- dead?" the man said seriously.

George winced slightly at those words, as though they pained him.

"Yes, she is."

"Oh my goodness," the woman said, looking extremely shocked and frightened.

"I'm sorry," George said.

"But what do we do about Hannah?" she said, looking from George to her husband.

"I'm sorry," George said again, suddenly needing to get out of there. "I have to go now."

He turned and walked away.

"Alex," Callie said as she finally found him in the hallway. "Look, I-"

"I don't want to hear any apologies," he said at once. "If anything let me talk. I'm sorry about what I said and I know I shouldn't have said it. Okay?"

"Alright," Callie said. "But I really-"

"Save it," Alex said. "I don't want to hear anything you don't mean."

"I am sorry about what happened," she said firmly.

"Whatever," he said, and walked away.

"Shepard!"

Derek turned around. It was Burke.

"I heard about your engagement," he said. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Derek said.

"Have you got any plans yet?"

"No," Derek said. "Why?"

"Cristina and I are going to get married," he said.

"So it's back on?" Derek said. "That didn't take long."

Burke grinned. "Things can change in a minute if you let them."

"So what are you doing?" Derek asked.

"That is why I was asking you."

George was standing in the hallway, looking into a room. Callie stopped as she spotted him. He looked around. Their eyes met. They just stared at each other for a few moments, then Callie walked away. George sighed and looked back in the room. Callie would have to grow to understand. Otherwise, it wasn't going to work the way either of them wanted.

He smiled. The little girl in the room looked so much like Izzie it was though he was looking at his best friend again. Hr wondered why Izzie had never told him about her daughter. And he wished she were there to see her.


	6. Chapter 6

This is finally the end! Thank you to all who have reviewed, not only this one but the other as well. You guys were the only reason I wrote this! I hope to see you all again, and hope you've enjoyed what I've given you.

Keep Holding On part 6

"I don't know what to do about Callie and I," George sighed to Meredith. "She's been so great to me, but it's just…I don't know. I just don't know."

Meredith looked at him sadly. "Maybe you and Callie just aren't meant to be."

George looked up at her, shocked. "How can you say that?"

"Because it seems to be true," Mer said.

He looked at her then looked away. It was just them in the kitchen, sitting across from each other. The house seemed to be eerily quiet.

"I think about that day a lot," Meredith said. "About what happened while we were in that room. I even dream about it sometimes. It was like a bad nightmare. I still can't believe it happened."

He nodded. Sometimes he forgot that she was in the room too. It seemed to him like it was just he and Izzie in a world where no one else had been.

"I found out who Hannah was," George said.

"Really?" Mer said. "So who is she?"

"Her daughter," George said.

She looked at him in surprise. "Her daughter?"

"Yep," he said. "She's eleven years old and has leukemia."

"Seriously?" Meredith said. "That's horrible."

"Everything's horrible," he sighed.

"Well, not everything," Mer said shyly.

"What does that mean?" George asked.

"Derek asked me to marry him," she said. "And I said yes."

At first he seemed shocked, but then he smiled.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. Then he felt rather stupid; there were plenty of reasons why.

"Well I'm telling you now," she said. "Burke and Cristina are back on too."

"That's great," George said with a smile. "I knew they'd get back to where they were."

"Burke wants us to have a double wedding," Mer grinned.

"You're kidding!" George laughed.

"No," Mer said. "Cristina isn't too happy with the idea. She doesn't even want a wedding."

"So are you gonna do it?" George asked.

"I'm thinking so," she said. "If we can talk Cristina into it. I will."

"Good luck with that," he said. "And congratulations. I really am happy for you."

"Thanks," she said. "I am too. It just feels like the right thing to do."

"Wow," George said. "Everything is moving so fast. It's…it's crazy. I don't know how to fix any of it."

"Well there's something you can do about Callie," she said. "If you really want to stay with her and really love her. There has to be something."

"And it's over now," George said. "Izzie's gone. We've accepted that. And we're moving on."

"Yes," Mer agreed.

"At least you are," he said rather shamefully.

"You will," she smiled. "When you're ready. Everything is going to work out."

"Even without Izzie," George said.

"It's gonna have to," she said.

There was a few moments silence. Meredith spoke up.

"I haven't taken her things yet," she said, "and I really wouldn't like to go by myself. So how about it?"

"Alright," he sighed.

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"It will be wonderful," Burke said encouragingly. "And Meredith will be going through the same thing."

"I don't want a big wedding," Cristina said flatly.

"Well I do," Burke said. "And marriage is about compromise-"

"No it's not!" she said.

He sighed and just looked at her.

"Oh, no you can't do that," she said at once. "You're not gonna stare me down or make me feel guilty. It won't work."

He said nothing. They just sat there for a few minutes, staring at each other. Burke smiled.

"Okay, whatever," Cristina said impatiently. "You can have your stupid wedding. You can all have your stupid wedding. But you owe me for this!"

Burke just smiled and shook his head.

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"Hey!" Alex said as Addison walked out of the hospital. "Are you leaving early?"

She smiled.

"I'm leaving period," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, almost concernedly.

"I'm leaving Seattle," Addison said. "It's just not the place for me. I'm going to go see some friends in LA."

"Oh," Alex said, disappointedly. "I'm sorry you didn't find what you were looking for here."

"Yeah," she said. "Me too." She smiled. "Take care of yourself Alex. You're a good guy."

She turned and walked out. He watched after her, truly wishing that she would stay.

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"Dr. Bailey," the Chief said as he passed her.

"Hello Chief," Bailey said.

He stopped. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine," she said. He didn't move or say anything. She sighed. "I am."

"You don't seem it," Chief said.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Bailey said. "But I am absolutely fine."

"It isn't your fault, Miranda," Chief said seriously.

"I never said it was," she said firmly. "Now if you'd please excuse me, I have work to do."

She left. He sighed.

Bailey did partly blame herself for everything. But she knew that it was Meurtrier's fault. Everything just seemed so out of place now. It was going to be hard to get used to. It was going to be hard to forget. But what else could she do.

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"That's everything she had at the house," Meredith told Izzie's mother. "We thought it'd be best to give it to you. We didn't know what else to do."

Her mother hadn't said anything since she opened the door. This made Meredith and George rather uncomfortable. They glanced sideways at each other.

Finally her mother spoke.

"Thank you for this."

"You're welcome," Meredith said with a smile.

Silence again. Her mother just stared at the things that Mer and George had brought. Meredith's smile faltered. She looked at George.

"Okay," he said. "We'll just go now."

Silence. George and Meredith looked at each other again. George stepped down. Meredith looked at Izzie's mom, then followed suit.

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"Hi."

Callie looked up. It was George.

"You're on your way out?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"I'm coming with you," he said.

"Alright," she said awkwardly.

"Now I just have to say this," he said. "I do love you with all my heart and I'm not gonna let anything get in the way of that. And yes I do have friends that I do care about very much and spend a great deal of my time with. I'm not going to stop seeing them or being friends with them, so sometimes I will have to stay the night, and sometimes I will come home late. Because they're my friends, and that's what we do. But you are the number one person in my life. I don't want to lose you or what we have. I went through a lot these past few days, and I just have to deal with it in my own way. It has nothing to do with you. Okay?"

She looked at him considerately. She smiled.

That night George went to bed by her side and for the first time had no dreams about those few minutes in the hospital. He didn't even hear her voice in his head. He missed Izzie, he truly did, and always will. But he had to go on and make his life the best he could, and live life to the fullest everyday. Because you never know when it's all gonna crash. He wasn't going to let what happened with him and Izzie ever happen again. There's too much to lose, especially when it's so hard to get.

So just close your eyes, and keep holding on.


End file.
